Employee Directory

The focus of my research is the investigation of novel genomic solutions to agronomic, nutritional, and consumer quality challenges in edible plants such as maize, sorghum, and dry beans. Understanding the metabolic and genomic regulation of rare/unique alleles in wild species or landraces enables the smooth and reliable movement of traits into cultivars that are used by humans for food. I utilize modern plant breeding, genetics, and bioinformatics techniques such as whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics pipelines, RNA-sequencing, and more to bring value-added traits such as short cooking times into elite cultivars, thereby improving their market value for the benefit of global consumers. I also utilize these technologies to understand the genetic and environmental factors that influence the shelf life and general stress tolerance of seeds.

• Will design and execute experiments to measure plant nutrient accumulation and identify molecular compounds that comprise phytonutrients using metabolomics, ionomics, genomics, and molecular biology in the Paape Lab.
• Will conduct studies of plant growth in greenhouse and field conditions.
• Will conduct wet-lab methods for metabolomic/ionomics, transcriptomics, qPCR, and bioinformatics.

• Introduction to Plant Genetics (CSS 350) (Michigan State University)
• Fundamental Genetics (IBIO 341) (Michigan State University)

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI                                                                        Aug 2018-Aug 2024

• Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology                                                     
• Department: Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, GPA: 3.91
• Graduate Advisor: Dr. Karen Cichy (USDA-ARS Food Legume Quality Genetics Lab)

Alma College, Alma, MI                                                                                                       Aug 2014-April 2018

• Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts                                                                 
• Majors: Biotechnology and French, GPA: 3.96

• Selected to be Borlaug Scholar, receives one-on-one mentorship with Dr. Liana Nice, networking opportunities, and professional development training designed for future plant breeders, National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) (2023)

• Jeffery, H., Murillo-Quesada, M. E., Barboza-Barquero, L., & Cichy, K. " A comprehensive review of the genetic control of cooking time in dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)." Plants, People, Planet. Accepted for publication.
• Palande, S., Kaste, J., Roberts, M., Aba, K. S., …Jeffery, H., …Percival, S., Pardo, J., Husbands, A. Y., Krishnan, A., Montgomery, B. L., Munch, E., Thompson, A. M., Rougon-Cardoso, A., Chitwood, D. H., VanBuren, R. (2023). “The topological shape of gene expression across the evolution of flowering plants.” PLoS Biol, 21(12): e3002397. 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002397
• Jeffery, H., Mudukuti, N., Buell, C. R., Childs, K., & Cichy, K. (Under review) "Gene expression profiling of soaked dry beans reveals cell wall modification plays a role in cooking time." The Plant Genome. 16(3):e20364. 10.1002/tpg2.20364
• Berry, M., Izquierdo, P., Jeffery, H., Shaw, S., Nchimbi-Msolla, S., & Cichy, K. (2020) “QTL analysis of cooking time and quality traits in dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).” Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 133:2291-2305. 10.1007/s00122-020-03598-w